In considering the
contribution of traditional dairy products in the diets of the people in
the countries of Southern and Eastern Africa it is important to look at the
overall availability of milk. Very often figures obtained by relating the
estimated amounts of milk produced in a given country with the human
population are taken as the per capita milk consumption statistics (see
Table 3). These figures may be useful as general indicators of the level
of milk availability to the general populace but have limited value as
criteria for assessing the nutritional role of milk in national diets.

To evaluate accurately the contribution of milk to the nutrition
status of the people we need to be aware of the traditional role of milk in
the diets of different communities within a region or country. Whereas the
majority of the urban and semi-urban populations consume purchased milk,
the majority of the rural population (who form at least 80% of the total
population within southern and eastern Africa) consume home-produced milk.
This means that in the urban sector the level and pattern of milk
consumption within households relates very closely to the availability of
market milk and milk products, income levels and distribution, age groups
and cultural backgrounds of the urban dwellers.

In the rural areas, milk consumption levels and patterns depend on the
degree of pastoralism or non-pastoralism within a given community.
Therefore depending on the geographical distribution of traditional cattle
herds one is bound to encounter, within a given country in the region,
areas where milk and milk products constitute a major component in the diet
while in some non-pastoral communities the consumption of milk particularly
among adults, may be non-existent. Table 29 adopted from Schneider (1984),
gives a general overview of the distribution of pastoralism within the
major rural peoples of Eastern Africa. Included also is an arbitrary
indication of the role of milk in their diets. Generally as the number of
cattle kept per person decreases so does the dependency on milk as a source
of dietary energy. At an average yield of 1 kg milk per day containing 700
kcal, about four milking cows are required to meet the energy requirement
of an adult person requiring 2600 kcal/day. These levels can only be
achieved in strictly pastoral communities owning large numbers of cattle
per head. Households with less cattle per head have to rely on other
foodstuffs apart from milk and meat or blood to meet their nutritional
requirements. A review of some published information will serve to
elaborate this point further.

In a study of the role of milk in the diet of pastoralists of South
Darfur, Sudan, Kerven (1987), found that 25 per cent of the energy needs
were met by milk, implying the consumption of the equivalent of 1 litre of
milk per day containing about 700 kcal per litre. In another report,
Kerven (1987a) showed that milk (in the form of traditional dairy products)
contributed 51 per cent and 63 per cent of the total calorific intake of
individual and group Maasai ranchers respectively. This translates into
about 1.9 and 2.3 litres of milk per day. These figures are consistent
with average milk consumption figures of 0.84 and 1.75 litres/day reported
for small scale (35 cattle per household) and large scale (367 cattle per
household) Maasai group ranches in Kenya (Leeuw et al 1984). Similar
figures have been reported recently by Majubwe (1987) who found milk
consumption in four immigrant Maasai settlements in Morogoro, Tanzania,
owning an average of between 104 and 221 cattle per household to be between
1.8 litres and 2.7 litres per person per day. Most of the milk was
consumed as fermented milk or buttermilk - a by-product of butter making.
These milk consumption figures are very high by any standards. However an
analysis of the nutrient profiles of such high levels of milk consumption
(Kurwijila, 1988a) show that while the needs for protein in general and
essential amino acids are more than adequately satisfied, the supply of
iron, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamine and energy are never fully met
by a purely milk diet on which some pastoralists attempt to subsist
entirely, particularly in the rainy season when milk is plentiful (Kerven,
1987). Due to changing circumstances especially the seasonal nature of the
milk supply and frequent droughts, most pastoralists, including the Maasai
in eastern Africa, now include substantial amounts of grain in their diets
(Kerven 1987a, 1987b; Majubwa, 1987; Grandin, 1987). The transition from a
diet completely dependent on dairy products among different communities in
southern and eastern Africa becomes inevitable as pastoralists pass through
various phases of pastoralism to settled mixed farming agricultural systems
as illustrated in Table 29.

In Tanzania, an analysis of the distribution of the per capita milk
supply by regions showed from the Livestock and Human Population Census
1978, that 5 out of 17 administrative regions had per capita milk
(consumption) supply of less than 5 kg, while only four regions had
consumption figures above 40 kg (112 ml/day) (Mpelumbe et al 1978,
Kurwijila, 1988).

While these general figures of milk availability show very low milk
supply levels and wide regional variations - a fact that is true also for
most countries within southern and eastern Africa - pockets of high milk
consumption among pastoralists and agro-pastoralists do exist. These diets
will benefit from the addition of grains and legumes to supply energy and
part of the protein while those diets of non-pastoralists which are
predominantly of cereal and starchy foods (Table 29) stand to gain by the
addition of highly nutritious dairy products. This strategy can achieve
both goals as milk released from the pastoral diet can be processed in situ
and sold or exchanged for grains as is frequently done between
cattle-owning and non cattle-owning households in agro-pastoral and mixed
farming communities.

Table 29. Changing role of milk in the diet in relation to transition from
pastoralism to settled mixed farming.

There are various reports
dealing with human nutrition in Ethiopia. However, the importance of
traditional milk products in the diet of the people, especially those of
the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, is not given the required
attention.

The Ethiopian diet as a whole, is rich in carbohydrates but poor in
proteins, fats and vitamins. The annual estimated consumption of 19 to 30
kg per head is much below the 62.5 kg per capita given by the Food and
Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as the average milk
intake to be maintained for a balanced diet (FAO, 1974–1977). The
nutritional problem differs from region to region and likewise from season
to season. In the highlands, with a crop-livestock farming system, the
number of milking cows per household does not exceed 1.5. They are local
zebu with low milk production and the milk off-take for home consumption is
about 1 to 3 litres per day, depending upon the season and stage of
lactation. Excepting for calves and children, the nutritional aspect of
milk is not given much importance.

On the other hand, in the pastoral and agro-pastoral areas milk and
milk products play an important role in the diet of the people. Amongst
these cattle herders, milk and cereal (maize and sorghum) form the basic
diet. Where as in the highlands, cereals and legumes are the important
food commodities. During the dry season, when milk production is at its
lowest, the pastoralists suffer from malnutrition. On the whole, it can be
concluded that the nutritional importance of milk and milk products in the
diet of the nation can not be over-stated.

In general, the principal food items are cereals
(millet and rice), milk and meat. The daily milk consumption pattern
varies from region to region and from season to season. There are
differences also between children and adults, males and females and the
various social classes (Wagenaar-Brouwer, 1986). According to the World
Bank (1983 Ann. 24), the Malians on average are only provided with 85 per
cent of their calorie requirements. The pastoralists, where milk forms the
greater portion of their diet, have poorer nutritional status as compared
to the agro-pastoralist whose basic diet is grains (Wagenaar-Brouwer,
1986). According to some estimates, the average annual consumption per
capita is about 18 kg (liquid milk equivalent) over the whole country.
This amount is about one third of what FAO recommends as the per capita
average milk consumption to be maintained for a balanced diet (ILCA
Bulletin, No. 4 1979).

According to the amount of milk
destined for use in traditional milk products and information on raw milk
marketing (Table 16) national milk consumption per capita very much depends
on the traditional dairy product and the amount of raw milk sold direct to
the consumer.

In Chile for example, from the 40 per cent (around 400 million litres)
of milk which remains at the farm it is estimated that 10 per cent (40
million litres) go to feed the calves, to be used by the family and normal
losses at the farm. Around 30 per cent of total milk production is
destined for the preparation of traditional dairy products and to be sold
directly to the consumer. Consequently traditional dairy products
contributes around 30 per cent of the milk consumption average coming from
national milk production.

On the other hand, in the case of Brazil almost half of its milk
consumption derived from the national production comes from traditional
dairy products.

In other countries such as Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay most of milk
produced is used to make traditional dairy products. Therefore the
traditional milk product sector is the main contributor to the milk
consumption of those countries considering only their own milk production,
that is, not taking into account imported milk. The precise contribution
of traditional milk products is not known because there have been no
studies or available statistics about this sector in most of the countries.

However, from experience we know that traditional dairy products do
have a great nutritional importance in the diet of those countries.
Generally speaking, the dietary advantages of traditional milk products are
the following:

Traditional products satisfy the consumption habits of countries
throughout the region. That means that most of the population enjoy
consuming milk through those products, even though sometimes they
don't like milk itself. In that way nutritional requirements such as
calcium, protein etc., are satisfied,

The rural population and that of the nearest towns have a good supply
of dairy products, normally at lower prices (at the farm) than the
dairy products of industrial processing. Normally these populations
do not have much opportunity to consume industrial products due to
supply and cost problems,

For people who have good access to the industrial dairy products (i.e.
people in the cities) the availability of traditional dairy products
allow them to have more varieties of dairy products so that they
consume milk through those products too in a more enjoyable way, so
increasing their total milk consumption,

Traditional dairy products do not reduce the nutritive characteristics
of natural milk. Most of those products are made from raw milk so
there are no losses of milk nutrients because of the processing. In
addition for most of them, nutrient concentration takes place during
processing (e.g. cheese varieties, sweetened condensed milk, etc.) so
they normally have higher nutritive values than fluid milk,

The manner of consumption of those products is very traditional and
they are an important part of the normal diet of a country. They are
part of traditional dishes and some of those are normally included at
certain meals, for example, in Paraguay, soup is almost a daily part
of lunch and dinner meals and cheeses are added to it. Traditional
dairy products are included in the eating habits throughout the
region.

Semi-hard cheese types are usually consumed at breakfast and tea time
with a piece of bread or cracker biscuits. They are also consumed at lunch
or dinner time together with some Italian dishes and traditional soups and
finally they may be used for special cocktails with some wine and fried
potatoes, etc.

Fresh cheese is consumed at breakfast and tea time in the same way as
semi-hard cheeses but at lunch too it may be eaten with some special
salads.

Sweetened condensed milk is consumed at breakfast and tea time in
place of marmalade or inside tarts, cakes, biscuits etc.

So it does not require any special publicity campaign to increase milk
consumption through the use of those products. It is only necessary to
have them available at a reasonable price to have them consumed by most of
the country's population whose diet is deficient in milk nutrients.

Nevertheless, traditional dairy products at the moment have some
problems directly connected with their general poor microbiological
quality.

In this respect, in general there is a consumption risk for those
products (e.g. cheese) for the main population (very young and old people),
since they are made mainly from raw milk, without heat treatment and of
poor bacteriological quality. Fortunately, some products do not have these
problems e.g. sweetened condensed milk which is heat treated for a long
time to evaporate off the required amount of water.

In general there are no precise statistics on the outbreak of food
poisoning and other illnesses related to food consumption. Many people
know by experience the risk involved in the consumption of dairy products
made from raw milk.

Another problem which could affect milk consumption is related to the
absence of standardization of those products and at the moment people are
asking for the best quality in food and particularly uniformity of each
product variety.

The main problems related to the nutritional aspects of traditional
dairy products are the consequence of faults in milk production, dairy
processing, transport and general management.

Milk is a well known product all over the
country and forms with its products a very important component of the
people's diet in most regions of Syria. At the breakfast especially, milk
is considered one of the main dishes because every family used to have a
few head of sheep, cows or goats to produce their own needs of milk and its
products.

People in Syria consider milk as the most nearly perfect single food
but its great nutritional importance lies probably in the ability of the
consumer to mix milk with other foodstuffs and its ability to improve a
mixed diet.

The nutritional importance of milk in the national diet is due mainly
to its contribution of high animal protein, its exceptional richness in
calcium and its generous supply of vitamin A and of riboflavin and other
members of the vitamin B complex.

Also, the chief importance of milk and its products from a nutritional
point of view lies in its great contribution of calories and the fat
soluble vitamins, as well as supplying a considerable part of the daily
needs of people for vitamin C.

Cream (koshtah) has been considered as the most valuable part of milk
due to its content of fat, for use in different types of food dishes,
especially sweet dishes such as knafch and katayef, as well as being the
raw material for producing butter (zobdeh) and ghee (samneh).

Butter (zobdeh) is very important in the national diet because the
people eat it either as it is with jams or sweet food or as ghee or butter
oil for cooking. Ghee is used only for cooking, more specifically in
frying meats or vegetables.

Yoghurt (laban) or drained yoghurt (labaneh), are very important
foodstuffs, especially yoghurt when it is used as a refreshing drink in
summer time when weather gets hot. It is more important for patients who
suffer from stomach disorders or pains.

Cheese as well are considered a very important part of the daily diet
in the country because it contains a very high level of nutrients, vitamins
and minerals such as calcium and also because of its ability to keep for a
long time.

In the case of the minor Syrian milk products such as sheninah,
shenglish (sorke) and keshkeh they also have very great nutritional
importance in the national diet as breakfast dishes due to their content of
energy, protein and minerals, and it is quite normal to see these products
in every house in the cities or the villages.

The composition of milk makes it an
ideal balanced food for humans especially infants and its importance as a
supplement to the average diet cannot be over emphasised. Traditionally in
areas where milk production is abundant, milk and milk products are
regularly consumed by almost all sections of the population. For example,
the average Punjabi diet can compare well with some of the best diets in
the world. However, the same cannot be said of the major sections of the
population. Recognising the proper role that milk can play in the
nutrition of the people, efforts are being made to increase milk production
significantly. Supplementary feeding programmes for infants and expectant
mothers, and school children, have always included milk powder as one of
the ingredients.

There is hardly any major difference in the nutritive values of cow
and buffalo milk except for the greater calorific value of buffalo milk due
to its higher fat content.

Table 30. Nutritive value of cow and buffalo milk

Biological value

True digestibility

Protein efficiency ratio

Cow

86.90

91.96

2.60

Buffalo

84.04

88.86

2.38

Although 46 per cent of the milk produced in the country is consumed
as liquid milk and as such milk plays an important role in the national
diet, there is considerable need and scope for increased consumption of
milk. The expenditure elasticity of demand for milk is very high in India,
1.46 for the rural population and 1.3 for the urban population.

The daily allowances of nutrients for an Indian adult male (doing
moderate work) recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research are
given below.

Table 31. Recommended intake of nutrients for the Indian male adult

Calories

2800

Proteins (g)

55

Calcium (g)

0.4–0.5

Iron (mg)

20

Vit. A:

Retinol (ug)

750

- carotene (ug)

3000

Thiamine (mg)

1.4

Riboflavin (mg)

1.5

Nicotinic acid (mg)

19

Ascorbic acid (mg)

50

Folic acid (ug)

100

Vitamin B12 (ug)

1.0

Vitamin D (I.U.)

200

The average diet of the poorer sections of the population is deficient
in several nutrients and most of these can be made up by supplementing the
diet with milk. As against the recommended level of 200 ml of milk, the
average per capita intake was 168 ml, in 1988. Except in the case of high
and middle income groups it is less than the recommended levels. Milk
plays a major role as a source of proteins in the average Indian diet
contributing some 10 per cent of the protein intake. These data are
indicative of the important part that milk plays in the nutrition of the
population.

In India most milk is boiled before consumption. It is to this
practice that the absence of milk-borne diseases in India is to be mainly
attributed. Heating to first boil results in destroying most of the
organisms. Denaturation of proteins as well as its flocculation due to the
neutralisation of the electric charges occurs to some extent on boiling
milk. A partial precipitation of calcium salts and phosphates also occurs,
the diffusible calcium being reduced from 26 per cent to 20 per cent.

Among the vitamins in milk, A is the most resistant, and C the most
vulnerable to heat treatment. While hardly any vitamin A is destroyed by
boiling, about 22 per cent of vitamin C is lost when milk is boiled. The
loss of vitamin C is dependant both on the time of treatment and the
exposure to light. A slight reduction in the thiamine (B1) content of milk
occurs. Riboflavin (B2) is hardly affected. The availability of calcium
and vitamins (except vitamin C) is not affected by boiling. Most of the
enzymes of milk are destroyed during boiling and the digestibility of milk
increases.

Hot milk is widely consumed before going to bed as a nightcap. The
milk is usually flavoured with condiments such as almonds, cardamom, dry
dates etc.

In the Indian households the life of milk is extended from 12 to 24
hrs by repeated boiling. The simplest way of preserving milk for human
consumption in a tropical country is to allow it to sour with the aid of
lactic cultures, checking putrefactive changes while giving to milk an acid
taste which is particularly refreshing in a hot climate. The product thus
achieved, dahi, is widely consumed in the country along with meals. The
digestibility of milk constituents improves. Dahi can also be consumed by
people who suffer from lactose intolerance. Almost every household in the
country consumes dahi. Due to fermentation of milk a greater amount of
phosphorus and calcium is made available to the digestive system by their
precipitation in the lower intestines due to the acid condition induced by
Lactobacillus sp.; and the consumption of sour milk also results in
increased efficiency of the body to cope with a sudden influx of lactic
acid in the system.

It is reported that when the food is supplemented with 250 g of dahi a
day, the status of thiamine improves. Dahi also increases the pyruvic acid
and the lactic acid among children on a typical poor rice diet. Thus, dahi
in its different forms, lassi, kadhi, shrikhand etc. also contributes
significantly to the average diet.

Makkhan and ghee contribute as much as one third of the fat in the
Indian diet. Ghee is produced mainly for consumption directly as food and
as an ingredient of food preparations including sweets. Over the centuries
Indians have cultivated a liking for the aroma and flavour of ghee, and a
preference for its use over vegetable oils, the other traditional cooking
medium for the preparation of specific food items. The vegetarian habits
of many Indians preclude from their diet hard animal fats such as tallow or
lard used in the West and thus ghee forms an important source of fat in an
otherwise vegetarian diet. For most uses, its wholesome flavour is the
chief attraction. For table use it is served in melted form and mixed with
rice or lightly smeared on chapatis. It is widely used for shallow frying
and deep frying of food materials. Innumerable Indian sweetmeats based on
cereals, milk solids, fruits and vegetables are cooked, by preference, in
ghee. Buttermilk or lassi as described earlier is a by-product in the
preparation of makkhan. It is estimated that about 55 kg of buttermilk is
produced for every kg of ghee. While most of this is consumed by the
villagers and their families, a good quantity is either given away or fed
to cattle. The reason for this is the lack of market value for the product
in rural parts. Buttermilk is rich in milk protein and calcium and forms a
valuable human food.

Ghee and makkhan are important carriers of vitamins A, D, E & K. They
also contain small amounts of essential fatty acids e.g. arachidonic and
linoleic.

Considerable losses of Vitamin A and carotene occur during cooking,
the loss of the latter being more rapid. Below 125°C Vitamin A is fairly
stable but above this temperature it is rapidly destroyed. It is found
that 10–20 per cent of carotene is lost during the normal cooking
operations.

The very fact that malnutrition
continues to increase throughout the world shows that policies have been
inadequate. The supply of extra food to meet the needs of expanding
populations is an enormous problem for the planners of agricultural
development in the least developed nations of the world. In countries
which have a predominantly agricultural economy the malnourished will
normally be found among families of subsistence farmers and particularly
landless labours who do not have enough milk and milk products in their
diet. Milk and milk products are main sources of protein, fat, lactose and
minerals. The traditional milk products are rich in fat and protein.
Chhurpi which is solid hard casein, contains 81 per cent protein and 11 per
cent fat. Sher or shergum in Nepal, has a high percentage of protein. The
composition has never been analysed in Nepal and Bhutan. Sher or shergum
is known as ‘dartsi’ in Bhutan. This product is widely used in curry,
being cooked with green chilli and vegetables. If it is ripened it will
have a more cheesy taste. In Bhutan, the ripened and smoked cheese which
is packed in leather or calf skin bag has a similar nutritional value to
non-traditional cheese. The most of the composition may match with
non-traditional cheese. This type of cheese is called ‘churtsi’ in Bhutan.
It is more expensive than other traditional milk products. Traditional
butter and ghee have a great nutritional value. Both are used in cooking
the foods. The normal traditional butter may contain on average 18–25 per
cent moisture, 75.5 to 85.5 per cent fat; 1 to 1.5 per cent non-fatty acids
and solids and 0.2 to 0.5 per cent oleic acid. The composition may differ
according to the manufacturing process. Traditional butter and ghee are
the main source of energy. Dahi and lassi, are also of great importance in
the diet. In Nepal, dahi is consumed with rice and other suitable food.
Lassi is drunk and is mainly used in the villages. Lassi contains more
water than dahi. Dahi and lassi both contain fat, protein, lactose, ash,
calcium, phosphorus. So it has a great nutritional value. The average
composition of khoa is given in Table 32.

Table 32. The average composition of khoa

Type of milk

moisture

fat

protein

lactose

ash

iron

(percentage by weight)

(ppm)

Cow

25.6

25.9

19.2

25.6

3.7

139

Buffalo

19.3

37.1

17.8

22.1

3.7

125

These figures indicate the important nutritional value of khoa.

The traditional products sar, malai and tar have a similar nutritional
value to non-traditional cream but the protein content may be greater.